{ "id": "1998-june-battling-for-access", "slug": "1998-june-battling-for-access", "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1998-june-battling-for-access.html", "year": 1998, "month": "June", "monthNum": 6, "headline": "Battling for access", "kicker": "ADVENTURES IN DATASITTING", "author_name": "Jennifer LaFleur", "author_title": "", "affiliation": "San Jose Mercury News", "summary": "A journalist argues that news organizations must demand access to government records, highlighting obstacles like privatization, escalating costs, and privacy concerns, while also questioning whether the media adequately covers public records issues and holds government accountable.", "keywords": [ "records", "access", "government" ], "topics": [ "Government & Politics", "Investigative Methods", "Journalism & Newsroom" ], "technologies": [ "Internet", "World Wide Web" ], "full_text": "Jennifer assumed that the press needs access to government databases. seems a little cocky.\n\nI recently spoke at a conference for the organization for federal FOIA Officers (called ASAP). Although my evaluations varied, the above comment stood out for me:\n\nThe battle for records access is heating up. It is no longer a given that government records are easily available. The hurdles are many, but three key problems that are more frequent and of grave concern include:\n\nPrivatization of records: Government agencies are more frequently having private companies maintain their databases. It makes access more difficult and muddies the definitions of what is owned by the public. Sometimes government agencies themselves have problems getting data in these situations.\n\nEscalating costs for records, particularly electronic records, which prevent or greatly delay a news organization's ability to gain access to records.\n\nViolating public records laws in the name of protecting the privacy of citizens. In many states, the courts have flipped public records laws on their heads. They make it the burden of news organizations to show public interest over privacy, which was not the intention of those laws.\n\nAlthough there is a lot of hype about how the Internet is causing everyone's privacy to be invaded (just like cable television was when I was younger), the public doesn't always agree with government's protection. At a recent Mercury News brown bag with readers on a totally different topic, readers spoke up about how they want their newspaper to get access to government records. They even volunteered to get a packet of letters together in support of public records access. If not for ourselves, we owe it to our readers to demand access to government records.\n\nIs it our fault?\n\nRather than dwell on the usual ways government agencies bamboozle reporters into thinking they shouldn't have access to data, let's think about some of the things we do or don't do when it comes to public records.\n\nCover citizen's access battles. We don't do very many stories about how citizen's can't get records or how one government agency can't get information from another.\n\nCover how candidates stand on public records. How many know how your local candidates stand on public records? Did your legislators vote for the Drivers Privacy Protection Act?\n\nDo we follow legislation that affects open records? Do a search of legislation in your state to find those affecting your state's open records act - you might be surprised.\n\nProvide information for readers about how to get information. Once a year the American Society of Newspaper Editors does a project called \"Your Right to Know\" where they provide information to newspapers (and encourage papers to do their own work) on open records. What else could you do?\n\nDo reporters follow through with requests and make agencies accountable? Or do they get tired of asking and move on to something else? We are all guilty of giving up some fights - but that sends a message to government agencies that they've \"won.\" If you don't have legal help at your newspaper, and you've tried every means yourself - contact IRE's access committee or your local SPJ chapter.\n\nDuplicate the Indiana Project. Seven newspapers in Indiana did an audit of government records in their state. Search the Indiana CAR www.ire.org information on this project.\n\nGuidelines to request records\n\n1. Know the law. Know how FOIA/open records law treats the information you're requesting and what the exemptions are. If there are exemptions, the agency must be able to cite them.\n\n2. Know what information you want. Don't ask an agency to provide you everything they have. Make your request specific. It's likely that a reporter may need the actual data that was used for a report. Before asking for the data, request the record layout for that database. Documentation is available under the law.\n\n3. Know how the information is kept. Try to find someone in the information systems department at an agency who knows. This is not to avoid the public relations person you're dealing with, but sometimes it's necessary to talk nerd-to-nerd. Reporters using computer databases are actually quite computer-savvy.\n\n4. Know what the appropriate cost should be. You really should have to pay only duplication costs. Ask for an itemization for those costs. This is an area that gets difficult when an agency has a set price for databases.\n\n5. Know the source of the data - be familiar with how the records are created.\n\n6. Know who administers the data. The person in charge of the database can be helpful for understanding the data.\n\n7. Get hard copy summary reports. This will give you a way to check your data.\n\n8. Know how many records or pieces of information are in the database. When you get the database, make sure you have the right number of records.\n\n9. Know how large the database is. You don't have to know a lot of technical jargon. Most PCs will hold at least 250 megabytes of information or roughly 250 million characters. If they say the file is 900 megabytes, you won't be able to do much with it unless you find a computer a bigger hard drive. Most newsrooms have the capability of reading nine-track tapes from mainframes and many other data formats.\n\n10. Confidential information. A government agency may claim that certain pieces of the information are confidential. There very well may be confidential information in the file, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get the rest of it.\n\n11. Involved with local group meetings of software users. These groups bring together folks from all different disciplines who work together to solve problems and share tips.\n\nNon-viable denial\n\nThe previous guidelines are all dandy, until you actually go to ask for the data. Many times you'll run into reasons why an agency give you information, probably because 8 out of 10 reporters will just say \"oh, okay\" and go away. Here is a sample of reasons I have received for why an agency cannot fill my request:\n\nListen Missy (yes, this really happened): Our database is very complicated. You probably won't understand it. Most newsrooms have the capacity to handle very large and complex databases. If you're not dealing with someone who knows the data, you need to.\n\nOur computer system can't do that. This is unusual for any database system. It may take talking with the software vendor to figure out the best option for both sides.\n\nThe person that knows how to do that is on vacation for two weeks/doesn't work here anymore. This is a problem.\n\nIt will cost you $20,000. Ask for an itemized estimate of charges. Remember that the list of other recipients of the data and what those recipients paid is available under FOIA.\n\nThe database is not public record. The burden is on the agency to show where in the law that information is not public record. If you have done your homework, this should be less of a problem.\n\nWe don't like what you plan to do with it. Interesting. On the other hand, when you're able to cooperate with an agency, they frequently can help point you in the right direction.\n\nThe database contains confidential information. Everyone needs to do their homework on this one. Redacting with a computer is possible just like on paper with a black marker.\n\nWe don't keep that on computer. Although this is true in some cases with smaller jurisdictions or small offices federal organizations, it's uncommon.\n\nIf we give it to you, we'll have to give it to everyone. So what's the problem with this.\n\nThat uses proprietary software. You don't want software, you want the data. This may require getting together with the vendor.\n\nWe don't mind giving you a few records, we just don't want to give you the whole database. To which the judge asked: You mean if they wanted one record from one person it would be okay? Their answer: depends on the person.\n\nVisit these relevant Web sites:\n\nAmerican Society of Newspaper Editors \"Your Right to Know\" project: www.asne.org/ideas/rtk/rtkmain.htm\n\nFreedom of Information Center: www.missouri.edu/-foiwww\n\nReporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: www.rcfp.org\n\nJennifer LaFleur can be reached by e-mail at jlafleur@sjmercury.com", "provenance": { "extracted_by": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6", "extracted_at": "2026-07-05", "verified": true }, "similar": [ { "slug": "1995-october-access-to-electronic-records", "score": 0.328 }, { "slug": "1996-november-electronic-battles", "score": 0.259 }, { "slug": "1997-decemberjanuary-from-the-nicar-library", "score": 0.238 }, { "slug": "1992-january-news-and-observer-challenges-nc-for-access-to-public-information", "score": 0.231 }, { "slug": "1999-december-drivers-records-access", "score": 0.204 } ], "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1998-june-battling-for-access.html", "json_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1998-june-battling-for-access.json" }